Israeli researchers at the Galilee Research Institute say they are just a few weeks away from the first vaccine of the coronavirus. If all goes well, the vaccine could be available in 90 days.

27 February, 2020

After 4 years of research funded by Israel’s Ministry of Science & Technology, MIGAL’s researchers have developed an effective vaccine against avian coronavirus Infectious Bronchitis Virus (IBV), to be adapted soon and create a human vaccine against COVID-19

Israel’s Minister of Science and Technology, Mr. Ofir Akunis, commented: “Congratulations to MIGAL on this exciting breakthrough. I am confident that there will be further rapid progress, enabling us to provide a needed response to the grave global COVID-19 threat.” Minister Akunis has instructed the Director General of the Ministry of Science and Technology to fast-track all approval processes with the goal of bringing the human vaccine to market as quickly as possible.

After 4 years of multi-disciplinary research funded by Israel’s Ministry of Science and Technology in cooperation with Israel’s Ministry of Agriculture, MIGAL has achieved a scientific breakthrough that will lead to the rapid creation of a vaccine against Coronavirus. This possibility was identified as a by-product of MIGAL’s development of a vaccine against IBV (Infectious Bronchitis Virus), a disease affecting poultry, whose effectiveness has been proven in pre-clinical trials carried out at the Volcani Institute. MIGAL has now made required genetic adjustments to adapt the vaccine to COVID-19, the human strain of coronavirus, and is working to achieve the safety approvals that will enable in-vivo testing, enable the initiation of production of a vaccine to counter the Coronavirus epidemic currently spreading throughout the world, which so far has claimed 2,666 lives.

From research conducted at MIGAL, it has been found that the poultry coronavirus has high genetic similarity to the human COVID-19, and that it uses the same infection mechanism, a fact that increases the likelihood of achieving an effective human vaccine in a very short period of time.

Commenting on the news, David Zigdon, CEO of MIGAL GALILEE RESEARCH INSTITUTE, said, “Given the urgent global need for a human coronavirus vaccine, we are doing everything we can to accelerate development. Our goal is to produce the vaccine during the next 8-10 weeks, and to achieve safety approval in 90 days. This will be an oral vaccine, making it particularly accessible to the general public. We are currently in intensive discussions with potential partners that can help accelerate the in-human trials phase and expedite the completion final product development and regulatory activities.”

Dr. Chen Katz, MIGAL’s Biotechnology Group Leader, commented, “The scientific framework for the vaccine is based on a new protein expression vector, which forms and secretes a chimeric soluble protein that delivers the viral antigen into mucosal tissues by self-activated endocytosis (a cellular process in which substances are brought into a cell by surrounding the material with cell membrane, forming a vesicle containing the ingested material), causing the body to form antibodies against the virus. In pre-clinical (IN-VIVO) trials, MIGAL’s researchers have demonstrated that the oral vaccination induces high levels of specific anti-IBV antibodies.

MIGAL Galilee Research Institute Ltd is a regional R&D center of the Israeli Science and Technology Ministry owned by the Galilee Development Company Ltd. In 2019, Israel’s Ministry of Science and Technology provided MIGAL with NIS 30 million to fund its research, covering approximately 50% of its budget. MIGAL is an internationally-recognized multi-disciplinary applied research institute that specializes in biotechnology and computer sciences, plant science, precision agriculture and environmental sciences, and food, nutrition and health. MIGAL’s employees include 90 PhDs and 190 researchers distributed across 44 research groups, each managed by a senior principal investigator. In addition, MIGAL’s field researchers carry out projects in experimental farms. With unique capabilities MIGAL has evolved into an innovative research ecosystem that encourages collaboration across scientific, industrial, agricultural, academic and technological specialties, generating sustainable value to Israel's northernmost region.

Much more coming for Australian taxpayers & horribly exploited poor people in Papua New Guinea and Indonesia coming soon. I'm recording an interview with @CharlesOrtel and @csthetruth tonight - we have an announcement to make about an invitation we've received from Canberra.

The story of Folarin Oreka Maiya, an African woman who was discharged by a Clinton Foundation offshoot in Nigeria for getting pregnant, has remained neglected for ten years. Wall Street analyst Charles Ortel has shed light on a rare case when the Clintons' charity was actually brought to justice in Nigeria.

In mid-February, investigative journalist Michael Smith unearthed an episode that rubbishes the Clinton Foundation's decades-long claim of being supportive towards women worldwide: the case of Nigerian national Mrs Folarin Oreka Maiya tells quite a different story.

Why Nigeria's Legal System is Worth Its Salt

On 14 June 2010, Maiya, an employee of the Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAIN) in Nigeria with an impeccable work record was sacked after informing her immediate supervisor that she was 12 weeks pregnant.

Perhaps, the story would have ended here, but Maiya wasn't easily frightened. She filed a suit with the National Industrial Court of Nigeria in the Abuja Judicial Division which found that the woman's rights to protection from discrimination and inhumane, malicious, oppressive, and degrading treatment were breached by the Clintons' entity that discharged her due to her pregnancy.

The court decision contains a description of the litigation that clearly shows the Incorporated Trustees of CHAIN not only showed no regret over its decision to sack the pregnant woman but insisted that she was "only insinuating that her rights to human dignity and freedom from discrimination were breached".

The defendant also tried to convince the judge that CHAIN is a separate legal entity distinct from the US-based CHAI and the William J Clinton Foundation Inc. However, after examining the facts the court came to the conclusion that CHAIN is a mere agent of the two other entities, which were well aware of what had been going on.

The judge eventually ruled in Mrs Folarin Oreka Maiya's favour citing "gross violations" of her constitutional rights by the Clintons' charity. Still, the Clinton Foundation failed to disclose this fact to the general public, and presumably did not brief the US and state government authorities on it while Hillary Clinton was serving as US secretary of state.

The case is especially interesting since it happened under the presidency of Barack Obama, the first African American to be elected to the office of president of the United States, with his wife Michelle known for decrying the kidnapping of Nigerian girls by Boko Haram extremists and campaigning against it in 2014.

​The Obama Foundation did not respond to a request by a Sputnik journalist to comment on the Maiya vs The Incorporated Trustees of CHAIN case. Similarly, the William J Clinton Foundation Inc, Clinton Health Access Initiative, Chelsea Clinton, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, National Organisation for Women, Association for Women's Rights in Development, International Alliance of Women, Women for Women International, and International Women's Health Coalition – all those who claim to spearhead feminist values – did not provide any comment on the controversial 2010 episode.

The Clintons 'Never Expected to Get Caught'

According to Charles Ortel, a Wall Street analyst and investigative journalist who has been looking into the Clinton Foundation's alleged fraud for quite a while, the charity's actions in this matter "need to be judged in the context of claims by Hillary and Chelsea Clinton to be ardent feminists and anti-racists".

"I certainly have noticed no public explanations yet, whether by the entities, or by any member of the Clinton family, despite the latter’s propensity to speak frequently about examples of sexist and racist behaviour involving others, and especially should these examples redound to their political benefit", he says.

When asked why CHAI decided to sack a pregnant woman in the first place, the analyst suggests it is likely that "the Nigerian team and bosses both at CHAI US and the parent Clinton Foundation did not wish to shoulder the substantial expense of paid maternity leave for a new employee, despite their supposed policy of offering this employee benefit as the person in question was recruited to join CHAIN".

He further presumes that the likely scenario is the Clinton entities and Clinton family "never expected to get caught".

"Now that the persistent fight for justice by the aggrieved employee has come to light, many tough questions need to be asked of the Clinton family and particularly of donors to the Clinton 'charities' from 2012 onward", he says. "Did major foundations and governments that made substantial grants to any Clinton 'charity' from 2012 forward know the particulars of this case? Were trustees and directors in control of these entities, or were these entities simply the playthings of the Clinton family?"

The object of this Act is to prevent the use of cash in economic activities in order to avoid the scrutiny of regulatory authorities.

This object is to be achieved by making it an offence for an entity to make or accept cash payments that are equal to or that exceed the cash payment limit, unless the transaction is expressly exempted under this Act. Instead, for such cash payments, entities will need to make use of more transparent payment methods.

entity means any of the following:

(a) an individual;

ENDS

Pauline Hanson has come out strongly against this freedom-smashing new law.

I've been strongly lobbying a number of government MPs who are privately strongly against this new law - however they all toe the party line, something I abhor.